Rebuilding
by am31
Summary: Everyone is trying to rebuild their lives after the war, will it be easier said than done?


Hermione sat in the garden of the Burrow, knees drawn up to her chest looking out at the surrounding fields. It had been three days since the end of the war and she had been staying with the Weasleys and Harry since. The dreadful images from the war kept flashing through her mind, all of the death and destruction, it hurt just thinking about.

"Mind if I join you?" a soft voice broke through her thoughts. She turned to look at the owner of the voice standing behind her, silhouetted against the setting sun.

"Not at all" she replied, shuffling over so there was room on the patch of flattened grass next to her. Ron lowered himself to the ground, stretching out his legs and putting his arm around Hermione's shoulders. She automatically leant into his embrace and he encircled his arms around her. "How are you?" she asked, looking up at his face to see the first sign of emotion that flashed across his eyes following her question.

Ron sighed and held her tighter. "Alright I guess. Obviously not the best that I could be but yeah, I'm better than I was." He leant down and tenderly pressed his lips to her forehead, letting them linger for a moment before resting his cheek on the top of her head.

"Good, I know I can't even begin to imagine how you must be feeling now Ron, but remember, I'm always here for you. You are one of the most important parts of my life, always remember that." She wrapped her arms firmly around his waist, her hands moving to caress his lower back. He moved his face from her hair and looked down at her. It amazed Hermione how much their relationship had progressed in the few days since the war. Despite their kiss in the room of requirement, they had not experienced anything more in their physical relationship, in fact they had not kissed since that first one, but their emotional relationship had progressed greatly. She felt so close to him and could tell what he was thinking and feeling just by looking into his eyes. She looked into them and could see a mixture of emotions there, sadness and anger were swimming in their depths, but the main emotion she saw was desire. Butterflies flew rapidly around her stomach as she realised that his desire was for her, she felt lucky, excited and a little scared.

Tentatively she rose a few inches and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was quick and chaste, but it did incredible things to Hermione. She felt passion stir in her abdomen, her want coursing through her veins. She kissed him again and this time he responded with more enthusiasm, kissing her back gently at first, but it soon became rough. She could tell that he was holding back, not wanting to take advantage of her or make her feel he would take control, but she knew what she wanted. She slowly parted her lips, easing her tongue out until she came into contact with his lips. Her tongue traced the curve of his mouth, gently caressing his full lower lip until he opened his and she began to explore the interior of his mouth.

She felt Ron's hands moving to her waist where he clutched her sides and gently lowered her until she was laying on the ground. He moved to lie next to her whilst leaning over to continue the kiss. She ran her hands through his long ginger hair, grasping handfuls and gently tugging on them until their lips parted. He moaned in protest at the loss of contact, but it soon became a moan of pleasure when she pressed her lips to his throat, cheek, ear and any other part of his face and next that she could reach.

Hermione was totally lost in Ron. He made her feel so good without even trying. His touches and kisses made her knees goes weak and she felt lightheaded. She had never been drunk before but guessed that this was what it felt like. She was drunk on Ron. Suddenly they were pulled from the bubble they were in when they heard Molly calling everyone for dinner.

"We should go in Ron. If we don't then everyone will wonder where we are and come looking for us" she said, slightly out of breath. Ron looked at her for a second before planting kisses along her jaw line and up to her ear, taking her lobe into his mouth and sucking on it. Hermione moaned and pulled on his hair again removing him from her ear. "Come on. We have to go. There will be more time for this later."

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

He planted one more kiss on her lips before pushing himself off of her and standing. He held out his hand to help her up and pulled her into his arms.

"You're my world Hermione. I just wanted to let you know how much you mean to me." He whispered into her ear, his lips ever so lightly brushing against it.

Hermione didn't respond. She knew that she didn't need to. She simply held onto him and knew that he was able to understand everything that she was trying to tell him through her embrace. When she pulled away they joined hands, entwining their fingers and walked across the lawn and into the house for dinner. She couldn't help but feel that through all of the upset and grief there could still be happiness.s


End file.
